Green Bay Packers: 15 best first-round draft picks of all-time
By John Buhler
Best first-round draft picks in Green Bay Packers history: 12. Fred Carr
You’re seeing a trend here, right? The Packers absolutely know what they are doing when it comes to drafting a linebacker in the first round. We’re only four players in but, let’s talk about the third Packers’ linebacker to make the cut in former UTEP Miners standout Fred Carr.
UTEP might have been a small school down south, but that wasn’t an issue for the Packers to take Carr No. 5 overall in the 1968 NFL Draft. Carr played 10 years in the NFL, all for Green Bay. Though he barely missed out on the Vince Lombardi championship window, Carr was a fine piece in the middle of the Packers’ defense for years.
He made three Pro Bowls over a six-year window. That’s a testament to Carr’s longevity and great play at a high level during the early to mid-1970s. Carr made his first trip to the Pro Bowl in 1970, his second in 1972 and his third in 1975. He never missed a game in his 10-year NFL career with the Packers, playing in 144 regular season games.
Carr would retire after the 1977 NFL season. He is a member of the Packers Hall of Fame. Though he first came to the Packers 10 years after Ray Nitschke and Dan Currie, Carr would continue that linebacking excellence we have seen out of the organization more often than not.